Brassieres (also commonly called “bras”) are commonly made with two cups, two shoulder straps, two back straps, a latching mechanism (hooks and eyelets), optional padding (soft foam, air, water, gel, or silicone), and, optionally, two under-wires. Padding can come as removable inserts or as an integral part of the bra. Some bras comprise extremely delicate fabric, such as lace, satin, silk, mesh, high-tech micro-fiber, stretch, and sheer fabric.
The under-wires, when used in the cups, often become misshapen during washing and drying. Over time, the under-wires can also tear through the bra's fabric. This can result in injury to the breast or bra, and can also damage other clothing and the washing machine drum.
The latching mechanism, located either on the two back straps or on the front in between the cups at the inter-cup bridge, typically has a couple to several hooks and eyelets or a plastic snap closure. In the washing machine and/or dryer the hooks frequently snag onto the bra itself, zippers, buttonholes, sweaters, and delicate fabrics, as well as becoming misshapen. A bra can also easily become tangled with other clothing and in crevices within the washer and dryer, causing further deformities to the cups, padding, under-wires, fabric, and straps. Repeated machine washing and drying can also substantially diminish the elasticity of bras. The padding, especially if made of thick and soft foam, often becomes indented and bunched. If made of air, water, gel, or silicone, it can become punctured and leak. Such deformities are visible, even through a T-shirt, and are especially noticeable when tight fitting garments are worn. These problems are well understood by women who wear padded or non-padded bras.
Another way to wash bras is to place it within a mesh washing bag, which is then placed in a washing machine. However, because of its soft material construction, the bag still does not adequately prevent the bra from being damaged—such as losing its original shape, collapsing inward and against the cups' curved shape, and becoming tangled with other bras or clothing within the same bag. In addition, padded bras (especially those using air, water, gel, or silicone) can be easily punctured, thus causing leakage to the bra cups. The time and money needed to replace a damaged bra can also be substantial.
Given all these inconveniences, many women have chosen to wash their bras by hand. However, hand-washing is very time-consuming and impractical. It can also induce back, hand, and wrist pain. Most bras that are hand-washed have to be air-dried, which causes water deposits where they are hung and thus slippery surfaces and more unnecessary cleanup.
The present inventor has previously been issued U.S. Pat. No. 6,742,683 (the '683 patent) on Jun. 1, 2004, which is entitled “Washing, Drying, and Storage Device for Brassieres and Bikini Tops”. The device disclosed in this patent is generally spherical in shape. It is entirely adequate for laundering of petite, small, regular and large size bras. For example, petite size bras are commonly marketed in the United States as size 32, small size bras as size 34, regular size bras as size 36 and large size bras as size 38. Other countries may use corresponding metric sizes. Depending upon the size and shape of the cups of the bra, the device disclosed in '683 patent may also be suitable for laundering of bras of larger size than size 38.
As used herein, “plus size” with respect to bras will generally mean size 40 or larger, such as size 42, size 44, size 46, size 48, and so forth. Such plus size bras typically do not fit into the washing device of the '683 patent, especially those bras over size 40 or 42.
Furthermore, making a larger generally spherical washing device to accommodate the plus size bras is possible, but not practical since it will not fit into most top-loading washing machines. That is, the spacing between the top of the agitator and the top edge of the drum of the washing machine is not large enough to accommodate a larger generally spherical washing device similar to that shown in the '683 patent. Thus, such a larger laundry device cannot be properly inserted into the washing machine.
A general object of the present invention is to therefore provide a washing device which will accommodate plus size bras and still be of a size or configuration which permits the washing device to be easily inserted into a washing machine.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a washing device for plus size bras which is of sturdy construction to withstand the agitation typically encountered in a washing machine.